Gas lighter



Nov. 17, 1964 E. GILBERTON GAS LIGHTER Filed March 4, 1963 United States Patent GAS MGI-ITER Emile Gilherton, Paris, France, assigner to Etablissements v Genoud & Cie, Venissieux (Rhone), France, a company of France Filed Mar. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 262,575 Claims priority, application France, Mar. 9, 1.962, 42,370,

Patent 1,326,426

This invention pertains to cigarette or cigar lighters and more particularly to such lighters that employ a gas for fuel.

When one takes hold of a lighter for operating it, the lighter body is held fast within the palm of ones hand. The pressure exerted by ones thumb on the knurled wheel with a view to producing a spark, necessarily urges, through mere contraction of ones muscles and without even the operator realizing the fact, the bottom of the lighter body against the palm of the operators hand or against the outer phalanx of one of his lingers.

The present inventionhasfor vits object to utilize this instinctive motion for opening the gas releasing valve, whereby said opening may be obtained in a substantially automatic manner.

To this end and in accordance with the invention, the bottom of the body of the lighter is provided with a shiftable member which is mechanically connected with the valve controlling the flow of the gas out of its container. The shiftable member which is automatically moved by the mere operation of the lighter, may be a blade, a cup-shaped member or even a mere push button.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

the connection with the valve is ensured by a rod extending longitudinally throughout the body of the lighter, or else in any other suitable manner, say through an outer element constituted for instance by a sheath enclosing the lighter body. p

The lighter maybe of the type including a removable fuel container adapted to be changed or else of the type wherein the fuel container is incorporated with the body of the lighter.

According to a further feature of the invention, the removable connection between the head and the body of the lighter is ensured by a yielding rubber ring fitted on the flint-carrying tube fixed to the lighter head and adapted to engage and to be pressed inside a shaft provided in the lighter body.

The present invention will be readily understood from a reading of the following detailed description with reference being made to the accompanying drawing given solely by way of example. The example is the particular embodiment of a lighter in which the shiftable member controlling the opening of the gas valve, is a cup-shaped member fitted slidingly over the lighter body and connected with a central rod while the fuel container incorporated with the body of the lighter, is adapted to be filled through the bottom of the shaft inside which the hint-carrying tube is carried. In sai-d drawings:

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of the lighter as a whole,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the latter from above, after removal of its head,

FIG. 3 is a perspective View showing how the valve opens upon actuation of the knurled wheel.

In the drawing, 1 designates the body of the lighter forming a fiuidtight container. The body 1 is capped by a burner 2 projecting above a tube 3 provided with the conventional wick system 4, with gas throttling means' 5 and a closing valve 6 held in its closed position by a spring 7.

The head of the lighter comprises a ring S fixed to the hint-carrying tube 9, which is in turn capped by 3,157,038 Patented Nov. 17, 1964 a knurled wheel ifi provided with its driving means 11. In the illustrated embodiment, it is assumed that the fuel container is filled through a port closed by a plug 12 and provided in the bottom of a socket or shaft 13 inside which is fitted the flint-carrying tube 9. Shaft 13 is fixed to the lighter body.

In the embodiment illustrated, a fluidtight tube 15 passes through the body 1 longitudinally thereof and is open at either end so as to allow a free sliding therein of a rod 16. The lower end of rod 16 projects ythrough the bottom 1a of the lighter container and is fixed to a cup-shaped member 17 positioned centrally over bottom 1a of the container. A spring 1S is fitted between cupshaped member 17 and the bottom 1a while the upper end of said rod 16 carrying the cup-shaped member 1'7, projects above the lighter body and is engaged by a pin 19 which prevents its dropping downward out of the lighter body.

The burner 2 is fixed to a stop member 20 holding in position underneath it, a slider 21 which is suitably bent twice so that its lower transverse section 21a may extend in vertical registry with the rod 16 above the upper end of the latter projecting through the body 1.

It will be readily understood that when the operator takes such a lighter in his hand for igniting the gas passing out of the burner (FIG. 3), the actual fact of acting on the knurled wheel 10 produces through reaction a thrust of the palm of his hand or of the last phalanx of one of his fingers, on the dished member 17, which produces, in its turn, a sliding of the rod 16 so that the latter projecting above the head of the lighter raises the slider 21 and consequently also the valve 6 through the agency of the stop member 2li.

When the lighter is inoperative, there is a clearance between the upper end of the rod 16 and the transverse section 21a of the slider, so as to form a protection which prevents the valve from opening before said clearance has been removed and the two springs 18 and 7 have been compressed to a sufiicient extent.

It should also be noted that the connection between the head of the lighter and its body is ensured by a rubber ring 22 fitted on the flint-carrying tube 9 and adapted to engage and to be pressed inside the socket or shaft 13 inside which the flint-carrying tube is held. This provides a removable and yielding connection, automatically removing any clearance between the head and body of the lighter.

Obviously, and as is clearly apparent from the preceding description, the invention is by no means limited to the sole embodiment described hereinabove, given solely by way of an example relating to a cylindrical lighter and the invention covers in contradistinction, all the modifications falling within the scope of the accompanying claims, whatever may be the type and shape of the lighter.

What I claim is:

l. A hand operable gas lighter comprising a container, a cup-shaped member slidably carried by the bottom of said container on the outside thereof and adapted to be shifted towards and away from said bottom, a spring urging said cup-shaped memberaway from the container, a rod fixed to said cup-shaped member and extending longitudinally through said container to slide freely inside the latter, a dint-carrying tube carried inside said container, a knurled wheel fitted on the upper end of said hint-carrying tube to cooperate with a fiint in the latter, a burner carried by the container in transverse registry lwith the knurled wheel, said burner including a valve closing said container, and a sliding member adapted to be shifted upwardly by said rod extending freely through said container for raising said valve upon hand operation of said lighter.

2. A hand operable gas lighter comprising a container, a cup-shaped member slidably carried by the bottom of said container on the outside thereof and adapted to be shifted towards and away from said bottom, a spring urging said cup-shaped member away from said container, a rod fixed to said shiftable member and extending longitudinally through said container to slide freely inside the latter, a flint-carrying tube carried inside said container, a knurled wheel fitted on the upper end of said flint-carrying tube to cooperate with a iiint in the latter, a lighter head carrying the hint-carrying tube and the knurled wheel, a socket fixed to said container in which the Hint-carrying tube is slidably fitted, a yielding rubber ring fitted between said socket and said flintcarrying tube and pressed therebetween, a burner carried by said container in transverse registry with said knurled wheel and including a valve for closing the container, a sliding member adapted to be shifted upwardly by said rod extending freely through said container for raising said valve upon hand operation of said lighter.

3. A hand operable gas lighter comprising a gas tank, including a gas exit port at the top thereof, valve means disposed in said gas exit port, means for biasing said valve means to close said gas exit port, a member including first and second ends and slidably extending longitudinally of said tank and externally below said tank, first connecting means for connecting said rst end to said valve means, second connecting means for connecting said second end in movable relation to said tank and adaptable for movement by the hand of an operator so that when said second connecting means is moved with respect to said tank said member moves upward causing said valve means to open said gas port through the agency of said first connecting means, a flint-supporting tube disposed adjacent said exit port, and a hand operable knurled Wheel disposed on said flint-supporting tube and adapted upon forced rotation of said wheel to throw sparks toward said exit port.

4. The gas lighter of claim 3 further including spring means positioned between said gas tank and said second connecting means for biasing said member in a downward direction.

5. A hand operable gas lighter comprising a container including a bottom portion, a first member slidably mounted on the bottom portion of said container and adapted for movement toward and away from said bottom portion, spring means positioned between the bottom portion of said container and said first member for biasing said rst member away from said bottom portion, said first member including a rod longitudinally extending through said container and freely slidable therein, hand operable sparking means fixed to said container, valve means in transverse registry with said sparking means for controlling the iiow of gas from said container and for providing an ignition site for said gas, said valve means having a first position for blocking the flow of gas from said container and a second position for permitting the flow of gas from said container and a second member for connecting said rod to said valve means so that when said first member is moved toward said bottom portion said valve means is moved to said second position through the agency of said rod and said second member.

6. The gas lighter of claim 5 wherein said sparking means includes a flint-carrying tube, a knurled wheel fitted on the upper end of said flint-carrying tube for cooperating with a flint in the latter and support means for supporting said flint-carrying tube in said container.

7. The gas lighter of claim 9 wherein said support means includes a socket in said container for slidably accommodating said flint-carrying tube and a yieldable bearing means disposed between said socket and said tube and pressed therebetween.

8. The gas lighter of claim 5 wherein said valve means includes a valve normally biased in a closed position and a burner.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,088,301 5/63 Gruber et al. 67-7.l EDWARD I. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HAND OPERABLE GAS LIGHTER COMPRISING A CONTAINER, A CUP-SHAPED MEMBER SLIDABLY CARRIED BY THE BOTTOM OF SAID CONTAINER ON THE OUTSIDE THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO BE SHIFTED TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM SAID BOTTOM, A SPRING URGING SAID CUP-SHAPED MEMBER AWAY FROM THE CONTAINER, A ROD FIXED TO SAID CUP-SHAPED MEMBER AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINAL THROUGH SAID CONTAINER TO SLIDE FREELY INSIDE THE LATTER, A FLINT-CARRYING TUBE CARRIED INSIDE SAID CONTAINER, A KNURLED WHEEL FITTED ON THE UPPER END OF SAID FLINT-CARRYING TUBE TO COOPERATE WITH A FLINT IN THE LATTER, A BURNER CARRIED BY THE CONTAINER IN TRANSVERSE REGISTRY WITH THE KNURLED WHEEL, SAID BURNER INCLUDING A VALVE CLOSING SAID CONTAINER, AND A SLIDING MEMBER ADAPTED TO BE SHIFTED UPWARDLY BY SAID ROD EXTENDING FREELY THROUGH SAID CONTAINER FOR RAISING SAID VALVE UPON HAND OPERATION OF SAID LIGHTER. 